The Great American Bash

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The Great American Bash
NXT The Great American Bash 2024 logo.jpeg
NXT The Great American Bash logo used as of 2024
Created by Dusty Rhodes
Promotions National Wrestling Alliance: Jim Crockett Promotions (1985–1988)
World Championship Wrestling (1989–1992, 1995–2000)
WWE (2004–2009, 2012, 2020–present)
Brands Raw (2007–2009)
SmackDown (2004–2009)
ECW (2007–2009)
NXT (2020–present)
Other names The Bash (2009)
First event 1985

The Great American Bash is a professional wrestling event held during the summer and has been produced by the American promotion WWE since 2004; since 2020, it has been held as an annual event for WWE's developmental brand, NXT. Created by Dusty Rhodes, the event was originally established in 1985 and was produced by the National Wrestling Alliance's (NWA) Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP). It originally aired on closed-circuit television until 1988 when it began broadcasting on pay-per-view (PPV), and later that same year, JCP was rebranded as World Championship Wrestling (WCW), which seceded from the NWA in January 1991.

Contents

In March 2001, the then-World Wrestling Federation (WWF) purchased WCW. In May 2002, the WWF was renamed to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and the promotion revived The Great American Bash as their own annual PPV event in 2004. It was held exclusively for wrestlers from WWE's SmackDown brand from 2004 to 2006 before brand-exclusive PPVs were discontinued in April 2007. In 2009, WWE renamed the event as The Bash, which was also the final Great American Bash broadcast on PPV, as it was replaced by Fatal 4-Way in 2010.

The event returned once in July 2012 under its original full name and was held as a television special, airing as a special episode of SmackDown . In July 2020, the event was again revived and became an annual event for WWE's developmental brand, NXT; from 2020 to 2022, it aired as special episodes of NXT , but was held as a livestreaming event in 2023, marking the first Great American Bash to air on WWE's livestreaming platforms before returning to being a television special in 2024.

History

The Great American Bash was invented by Dusty Rhodes, a prominent wrestler of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), who became a wrestler and booker of the NWA's Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP). The first Great American Bash event was held by JCP on July 6, 1985, in Charlotte, North Carolina at the American Legion Memorial Stadium. In 1986 and 1987, The Great American Bash was held as a series of events. It was broadcast on closed-circuit television until the 1988 event, when it began broadcasting on pay-per-view (PPV). In November that year, JCP was purchased by Turner Broadcasting System and JCP was rebranded as World Championship Wrestling (WCW). [1]

WCW continued to produce The Great American Bash under the NWA banner until WCW seceded from the NWA in January 1991. As such, the 1991 event was the first Great American Bash produced by WCW alone. After the 1992 event, WCW did not hold the PPV again until 1995. It then continued annually until 2000. [1] The 2000 event was the final Great American Bash held by WCW, [2] as in March 2001, WCW was purchased by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), [3] which was renamed to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in May 2002. [4]

After a four-year hiatus, the event was revived by WWE in 2004. To coincide with the brand extension, where the promotion divided its roster into brands where wrestlers were exclusively assigned to perform, [5] the 2004 event was held exclusively for the SmackDown! brand. [6] It continued to be held exclusively for SmackDown! in 2005 and 2006. [7] [8] Following WrestleMania 23 in April 2007, brand-exclusive PPVs were discontinued, [9] thus the events from 2007 to 2009 featured the Raw, SmackDown!, and ECW brands. [10] [11] [12] In 2009, the event was renamed as The Bash. [12] It would be the only held under this name, as well as the last broadcast on PPV, as the event was replaced by Fatal 4-Way in 2010. [13]

In April 2011, WWE ceased using its full name with the WWE abbreviation becoming an orphaned initialism. [14] The company then revived The Great American Bash once in July 2012 under the event's original full name, but it was held as a television special, airing as a special episode of SmackDown . [15] After another eight years, WWE again revived the event, this time for their developmental brand, NXT, as a two-part special episode of NXT . [16] The event was scheduled to again be held as a special episode of NXT in 2021, but reduced to one night, thus becoming an annual event for NXT. [17] In 2023, the event was broadcast via livestreaming, marking the first Great American Bash to air on WWE's livestreaming platforms, Peacock in the United States and the WWE Network in most international markets. [18] It returned to being a television special of NXT in 2024, but as a two-night event for the first time since 2020. [19]

Events

WCW/nWo co-branded eventSmackDown-branded eventNXT-branded event
#EventDateCityVenueFinal matchRef.
National Wrestling Alliance: Jim Crockett Promotions
1 The Great American Bash (1985) July 6, 1985 Charlotte, North Carolina American Legion Memorial Stadium Tully Blanchard (c) vs. Dusty Rhodes in a Steel cage match for the NWA World Television Championship [1]
2 The Great American Bash (1986) July–August 1986A tour of 13 shows around the south and eastern parts of the country Dusty Rhodes vs. Ric Flair (c) for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship [1]
3 The Great American Bash (1987) July 1987A tour of several shows around the south and eastern parts of the country The Road Warriors (Animal and Hawk), Dusty Rhodes, Nikita Koloff, and Paul Ellering vs. The Four Horsemen (Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Lex Luger, and Tully Blanchard) and The War Machine in a WarGames match [1]
4 The Great American Bash (1988) July 10, 1988 Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore Arena Ric Flair (c) vs. Lex Luger for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship [1]
National Wrestling Alliance: World Championship Wrestling
5 The Great American Bash (1989) July 23, 1989 Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore Arena Ric Flair (c) vs. Terry Funk for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship [1]
6 The Great American Bash (1990) July 7, 1990 Ric Flair (c) vs. Sting for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship [1]
World Championship Wrestling
7 The Great American Bash (1991) July 14, 1991 Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore Arena Rick Steiner vs. Arn Anderson and Paul E. Dangerously in a handicap steel cage match [1]
8 The Great American Bash (1992) July 12, 1992 Albany, Georgia Albany Civic Center Terry Gordy and "Dr. Death" Steve Williams vs. Dustin Rhodes and Barry Windham in a tournament final for the inaugural NWA World Tag Team Championship [1]
9 The Great American Bash (1995) June 18, 1995 Dayton, Ohio Hara Arena Ric Flair vs. Randy Savage [20]
10 The Great American Bash (1996) June 16, 1996 Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore Arena The Giant (c) vs. Lex Luger for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship [20]
11 The Great American Bash (1997) June 15, 1997 Moline, Illinois The MARK of the Quad Cities Diamond Dallas Page vs. Randy Savage in a Falls Count Anywhere match [20]
12 The Great American Bash (1998) June 14, 1998 Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore Arena Sting vs. The Giant for control of the WCW World Tag Team Championship [20]
13 The Great American Bash (1999) June 13, 1999 Kevin Nash (c) vs. Randy Savage for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship [20]
14 The Great American Bash (2000) June 11, 2000 Jeff Jarrett (c) vs. Kevin Nash for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship with Ernest Miller as the special guest enforcer [20]
World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)
15 The Great American Bash (2004) June 27, 2004 Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk Scope The Undertaker vs. The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley) in a Handicap Concrete Crypt match [6]
16 The Great American Bash (2005) July 24, 2005 Buffalo, New York HSBC Arena Batista (c) vs. John "Bradshaw" Layfield for the World Heavyweight Championship [7]
17 The Great American Bash (2006) July 23, 2006 Indianapolis, Indiana Conseco Fieldhouse Rey Mysterio (c) vs. King Booker for the World Heavyweight Championship [8]
18 The Great American Bash (2007) July 22, 2007 San Jose, California HP Pavilion John Cena (c) vs. Bobby Lashley for the WWE Championship [10]
19 The Great American Bash (2008) July 20, 2008 Uniondale, New York Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum Triple H (c) vs. Edge for the WWE Championship [11]
20 The Bash June 28, 2009 Sacramento, California ARCO Arena Randy Orton (c) vs. Triple H in a Three Stages of Hell match for the WWE Championship [12]
21 SuperSmackDown LIVE: The Great American Bash July 3, 2012 Corpus Christi, Texas American Bank Center The Great American Bash 20-Man Battle Royal to determine the guest General Manager for the following week's SmackDown [15]
22 NXT The Great American Bash (2020) July 1, 2020 [Note 1]
(Night 1)
Winter Park, Florida Full Sail University Io Shirai vs. Sasha Banks [16]
July 8, 2020
(Night 2)
NXT Champion Adam Cole vs. North American Champion Keith Lee in a Winner Takes All match
23 NXT The Great American Bash (2021) July 6, 2021 Orlando, Florida Capitol Wrestling Center at WWE Performance Center Adam Cole vs. Kyle O'Reilly [21]
24 NXT The Great American Bash (2022) July 5, 2022 WWE Performance Center Bron Breakker (c) vs. Cameron Grimes for the NXT Championship [22]
25 NXT The Great American Bash (2023) July 30, 2023 Cedar Park, Texas H-E-B Center at Cedar Park Carmelo Hayes (c) vs. Ilja Dragunov for the NXT Championship [18]
26 NXT The Great American Bash (2024) July 30, 2024 Orlando, Florida WWE Performance Center Roxanne Perez (c) vs. Thea Hail for the NXT Women's Championship [19]
August 6, 2024 Axiom and Nathan Frazer (c) vs. MSK (Wes Lee and Zachary Wentz) for the NXT Tag Team Championship
(c) – refers to the champion(s) going into the match

1985

The Great American Bash
Promotion National Wrestling Alliance: Jim Crockett Promotions
DateJuly 6, 1985
City Charlotte, North Carolina
Venue American Legion Memorial Stadium
Attendance27,000
The Great American Bash chronology
 Previous
First
Next 
1986

The 1985 Great American Bash was the inaugural Great American Bash professional wrestling event produced by the NWA's Jim Crockett Promotions. It took place on July 6, 1985, at the American Legion Memorial Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina. The event included a 1-hour live concert performance by David Allan Coe. [23]

As a result of Dusty Rhodes winning the match, Tully Blanchard's valet, Baby Doll was forced to be Dusty Rhodes' valet for 30 days which sparked her face turn as she became a full-time valet for Rhodes and his then partner, Magnum T. A.

After the event, Buzz Tyler left JCP after a dispute with booker Dusty Rhodes and took the NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship belt with him. The Russian Team would lose the NWA World Tag Team titles to the debuting Rock & Roll Express three days later. Ric Flair would turn heel later in 1985 and join his (kayfabe) cousins Ole & Arn Anderson and break Dusty Rhodes' leg in a steel cage in September of that year, forcing him to surrender the NWA World Television title, and Flair/The Andersons would become the foundation of the Four Horsemen with Tully Blanchard and James J. Dillon joining in early 1986. Kamala would join the WWF later in 1985.

No.Results [24] [25] [23] [26] Stipulations
1 Ron Bass vs. Buddy Landel (with J. J. Dillon) ended in a draw Singles match
2 The Andersons (Ole and Arn) (c) defeated Buzz Sawyer and Dick Slater Tag team match for the NWA National Tag Team Championship
3 Manny Fernandez, Sam Houston, and Buzz Tyler defeated Superstar Billy Graham, Konga the Barbarian, and Abdullah the Butcher Six-man tag team match
4 Jimmy Valiant defeated Paul Jones Dog Collar match
5 The Russian Team (Krusher Khrushchev and Ivan Koloff) (c) vs. The Road Warriors (Hawk and Animal) (with Paul Ellering) ended in a double disqualification Tag team match for the NWA World Tag Team Championship
6 Magnum T. A. (c) defeated Kamala (with Skandor Akbar) by disqualificationSingles match for the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship
7 Ric Flair (c) defeated Nikita Koloff (with Ivan Koloff)Singles match for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship with David Crockett as special referee
8 Dusty Rhodes defeated Tully Blanchard (c) (with Baby Doll) Steel Cage match for the NWA World Television Championship
(c) – the champion(s) heading into the match

1986

The Great American Bash
Promotion National Wrestling Alliance: Jim Crockett Promotions
DateJuly–August 1986
Cityvarious cities
Venuevarious venues
AttendanceN/A
Tagline(s)Ringmasters
The Great American Bash chronology
 Previous
1985
Next 
1987

The 1986 Great American Bash was the second annual Great American Bash event produced by the NWA's Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP). Instead of a singular event, JCP used "The Great American Bash" name for a tour that had several pay-per-view caliber shows around the country in the summer of 1986. There were a total of 13 shows held under this Great American Bash tour and NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair defended his title at each one against Ricky Morton, Road Warrior Hawk, Ron Garvin, Nikita Koloff, Robert Gibson, Road Warrior Animal, Magnum T. A., Wahoo McDaniel, and Dusty Rhodes. Rhodes defeated him for the title at the July 26 event. [27] Flair challenged Rhodes to a rematch on the last Bash on August 2. Nikita Koloff and Magnum T. A. were involved in a best of seven title match series throughout the Bash for the U.S. Title. The cities toured in 1986 were in order as follows: July 1 in Philadelphia, July 3 in Washington, D.C., July 4 in Memphis, Tennessee, July 5 in Charlotte, North Carolina, July 8 in Charleston, WV, July 9 in Cincinnati, July 10 in Roanoke, Virginia, July 12 in Jacksonville, Florida, July 18 in Richmond, Virginia, July 21 in Fayetteville, North Carolina, July 23 in Johnson City, Tennessee, July 25 in Norfolk, Virginia, July 26 in Greensboro, North Carolina, and August 2 in Atlanta.

In July 2019, the July 5 and July 26 editions were uploaded as hidden gems on the WWE Network. [28]

Steve Regal won the NWA World Junior Heavyweight title from Denny Brown at the final Bash event in Atlanta, then lost it back to Brown a month later and joined the WWF shortly afterwards. Ric Flair regained the NWA World Heavyweight Title from Rhodes in St. Louis one week after the Bash tour ended, then Baby Doll left Dusty Rhodes and became Flair's valet until she was moved to the Central States territory after JCP's purchase later in 1986. Nikita Koloff won the United States Heavyweight title after defeating Magnum T. A. for the fourth time on August 17 in Charlotte, NC, then unified the United States title with the former Georgia National Heavyweight title by defeating champion Wahoo McDaniel in September 1986 (retiring the last of the former Georgia Championship Wrestling titles), then turned face after Magnum's career-ending car accident in October. Manny Fernandez turned on Jimmy Valiant (Valiant lost his hair later in the Bash tour) and become a heel, joining Paul Jones' army, later joining forces with Rick Rude. Ron Garvin won the Mid-Atlantic Title from Black Bart in September before vacating the title (which then was retired) after winning the United States Tag Team titles with his partner Barry Windham.

July 5, 1986 in Charlotte, North Carolina (Memorial Stadium)

No.Results [24] [29] Stipulations
1 Denny Brown (c) vs. Steve Regal ended in a draw Singles match for the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship
2 Robert Gibson defeated Black Bart Singles match
3 The Minnesota Wrecking Crew (Ole Anderson and Arn Anderson) defeated Sam Houston and Nelson Royal Tag team match
4 Manny Fernandez defeated Baron von Raschke (with Paul Jones) Bunkhouse match
5 Wahoo McDaniel defeated Jimmy Garvin (with Precious) Indian Strap match
6 Ron Garvin defeated Tully Blanchard (with J. J. Dillon) Taped Fist match
7 The Road Warriors (Animal and Hawk) (with Paul Ellering) defeated The Russian Team (Ivan Koloff and Nikita Koloff) Russian Chain match
8 Jimmy Valiant defeated Shaska Whatley (with Paul Jones) Hair vs. Hair match
9 Dusty Rhodes, Magnum T. A., and Baby Doll defeated The Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton and Dennis Condrey) and Jim Cornette Steel cage match
10 Ric Flair (c) defeated Ricky Morton Steel Cage match for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship
(c) – the champion(s) heading into the match

July 26, 1986 in Greensboro, North Carolina (Greensboro Coliseum)

No.Results [24] [29] [30] Stipulations
1 Steve Regal defeated Sam Houston Singles match
2 Black Bart and Konga the Barbarian defeated Denny Brown and Italian Stallion Tag team match
3 Manny Fernandez defeated Baron von Raschke (with Paul Jones) Loaded Glove on a Pole match
4 Wahoo McDaniel defeated Jimmy Garvin (with Precious) Indian Strap match
5 Tully Blanchard (with J. J. Dillon) defeated Ron Garvin Taped Fist match
6 The Rock 'n' Roll Express (Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson) vs. The Minnesota Wrecking Crew (Ole Anderson and Arn Anderson) ended in a drawTag team match
7 Paul Jones (with Shaska Whatley) defeated Jimmy Valiant Hair vs. Hair match
8 Magnum T. A. defeated Nikita Koloff (with Ivan Koloff)Singles match for the vacant NWA United States Heavyweight Championship
Third in the best of seven series
9 The Road Warriors (Animal and Hawk) and Baby Doll (with Paul Ellering) defeated The Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton and Dennis Condrey) and Jim Cornette Steel Cage match
10 Dusty Rhodes defeated Ric Flair (c)Steel Cage match for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship
(c) – the champion(s) heading into the match

1987

The Great American Bash
Promotion National Wrestling Alliance: Jim Crockett Promotions
DateJuly 4, 1987 [31]
July 18, 1987 [32]
July 31, 1987
City Atlanta [31]
Charlotte, North Carolina [32]
Miami
Venue The Omni [31]
Memorial Stadium [32]
Orange Bowl
The Great American Bash chronology
 Previous
1986
Next 
1988

The 1987 Great American Bash was the third annual Great American Bash event produced by the NWA's Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP). Like the previous year, it was a series of events held throughout the summer of 1987, although this year's tour only had three events instead of 13. This was the first use of the WarGames: The Match Beyond match conceived by Dusty Rhodes.

Rhodes was on the winning side in both events along with The Road Warriors, Nikita Koloff, and Paul Ellering. Koloff, Rhodes, and J. J. Dillon sustained serious injuries in the first encounter, which led to him being replaced in the 2nd WarGames match in Miami by The War Machine. The Bash series took place in numerous venues all July long, starting in Lakeland, Florida at the Lakeland Civic Center Arena on July 1. This was also the final wrestling event of the NWA's JCP to be aired live on closed-circuit television, as JCP began airing their wrestling events live on pay-per-view, starting with Starrcade in November 1987.

This was the first major card that included the UWF stars after JCP purchased the UWF in April, 1987 as well as Championship Wrestling from Florida, as JCP took over operations of the promotion as well. Lazor-Tron (Hector Guerrero) would leave JCP later in 1987 and vacate the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship. The WWF national expansion continued as Big Bubba Rogers would leave later in 1987 to become the Big Boss Man, while other stars such as Chris Adams, Terry Gordy and Buddy Roberts would return to World Class (WCWA). Dark Journey would leave JCP after the Bashes and retire from wrestling. Manny "The Ragin' Bull" Fernandez would go onto a short feud with Jimmy Garvin before leaving JCP later in 1987. Tully Blanchard would lose his World TV title to Nikita Koloff, then he and Arn Anderson would form a tag team which captured the NWA World Tag Team titles (with a little unsolicited help from the Midnight Express) from the Rock & Roll Express in September 1987. Dusty Rhodes would begin a feud with Lex Luger over the United States Heavyweight title. Jimmy Garvin's valet (and real-life wife) Precious would have her "dream date" with Ric Flair (which turned out to be Garvin's brother Ron Garvin in drag) and Ron Garvin would rekindle his feud with Ric Flair over the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, which Garvin would win in Detroit, Michigan, on September 25, 1987.

July 4, 1987 in Atlanta, Georgia (The Omni)

No.Results [24] [31] [33] [34] Stipulations
1 Kendall Windham defeated Gladiator #1 Singles match
2 Sting defeated Thunderfoot #1 Singles match
3 LazerTron defeated MOD Squad Spike Singles match
4 Jimmy Valiant defeated MOD Squad Basher Singles match
5 Barry Windham (c) defeated Rick Steiner Singles match for the NWA Western States Heritage Championship
6 Ron Garvin and Jimmy Garvin (with Precious) defeated Vladimir Petrov and The Barbarian (with Paul Jones) Tag team match
7 The Lightning Express (Tim Horner and Brad Armstrong) (c) defeated The Angel of Death and Big Bubba Rogers (with Skandor Akbar) Tag team match for the UWF World Tag Team Championship
8 Chris Adams defeated Black Bart (with Skandor Akbar) by disqualification Singles match
9 The Fabulous Freebirds (Buddy Roberts, Michael Hayes, and Terry Gordy) defeated Ivan Koloff, Manny Fernandez, and Paul Jones Six-man tag team match
10 The Rock 'n' Roll Express (Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson) (c) defeated The Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton and Stan Lane) (with Jim Cornette) by disqualification Tag team match for the NWA World Tag Team Championship
11 Steve Williams (with Magnum T. A.) defeated Dick Murdoch (with Eddie Gilbert) Texas Death Match
12 The Road Warriors (Animal and Hawk), Nikita Koloff, Dusty Rhodes, and Paul Ellering defeated The Four Horsemen (Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Lex Luger, Tully Blanchard, and J. J. Dillon) (with Dark Journey) WarGames match
(c) – the champion(s) heading into the match

July 18, 1987 in Charlotte, North Carolina (Memorial Stadium)

No.Results [24] [33] [32] Stipulations
1 Kendall Windham, Jimmy Valiant, and LazerTron defeated Sean Royal, Gladiator #1, and Gladiator #2 Six-man tag team match
2 Chris Adams defeated Black Bart (with Skandor Akbar) Singles match
3 Barry Windham (c) defeated Big Bubba Rogers (with Skandor Akbar)Singles match for the NWA Western States Heritage Championship
4 "Dr. Death" Steve Williams and Terry Gordy defeated Eddie Gilbert and Dick Murdoch Bunkhouse match
5 The Fabulous Freebirds (Michael Hayes and Buddy Roberts) defeated The Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton and Stan Lane) (c) (with Jim Cornette) by disqualification. Tag team match for the NWA United States Tag Team Champions
6 The Rock 'n' Roll Express (Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson) (c) defeated The MOD Squad (Spike and Basher) Tag team match for the NWA World Tag Team Championship
7 Road Warrior Animal (with Paul Ellering) defeated Arn Anderson (with J. J. Dillon) Taped Fist match
8 Lex Luger (with J. J. Dillon) defeated Nikita Koloff (c) Steel cage match for the NWA United States Championship
9 Ric Flair (c) (with J. J. Dillon) defeated Road Warrior Hawk (with Paul Ellering) by disqualification Singles match for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship
10 Dusty Rhodes (with Barry Windham) defeated Tully Blanchard (with J. J. Dillon and Dark Journey)"Lights-out" Barbed Wire Ladder match for $100,000.
(c) – the champion(s) heading into the match

July 31, 1987 in Miami, Florida (Orange Bowl)

No.Results [24] [33] Stipulations
1 Manny Fernandez and The Barbarian (with Paul Jones) defeated The Mulkey Brothers (Randy Mulkey and Bill Mulkey) Tag team match
2 Barry Windham (c) defeated Incubus Singles match for the NWA Western States Heritage Championship
3 The Sheepherders (Luke Williams and Butch Miller) (c) vs. Jimmy Garvin and Ron Garvin (with Precious) ended in a double disqualification Tag team match for the NWA Florida Tag Team Championship
4 Mike Rotunda (c) defeated Ivan Koloff Singles match for the NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship
5 Kevin Sullivan defeated Dory Funk Jr. Texas Death Match
6 The Rock 'n' Roll Express (Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson) (c) defeated The Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton and Stan Lane) (with Jim Cornette) Tag team match for the NWA World Tag Team Championship
7 The Road Warriors (Animal and Hawk), Dusty Rhodes, Nikita Koloff, and Paul Ellering defeated The Four Horsemen (Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Lex Luger, and Tully Blanchard) and The War Machine (with J. J. Dillon and Dark Journey) WarGames match
(c) – the champion(s) heading into the match

2012

SuperSmackDown Live:
The Great American Bash
Promotion WWE
DateJuly 3, 2012
City Corpus Christi, Texas
Venue American Bank Center
SmackDown special episodes chronology
 Previous
Next 
SmackDown's 20th Anniversary
The Great American Bash chronology
 Previous
The Bash
Next 
2020

The 2012 Great American Bash was the seventh Great American Bash professional wrestling event produced by WWE, and 21st Great American Bash event overall. Unlike previous editions of The Great American Bash, it was the first to air as a special episode of a regular WWE television program, as opposed to a pay-per-view event. The 2012 event was held as a special SuperSmackDown Live episode of SmackDown. It took place on July 3, 2012, at the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, Texas. It was the first Great American Bash held since the 2009 event, which had been titled The Bash; the 2012 event returned to using the full name of "The Great American Bash". [15] It was the final Great American Bash until 2020.

No.ResultsStipulationsTimes
1 The Great Khali and Layla defeated Antonio Cesaro and Aksana [35] Mixed tag team match 1:56
2 Cody Rhodes defeated Christian [36] World Heavyweight Championship Money in the Bank qualifying match12:50
3 Dolph Ziggler defeated Alex Riley [37] World Heavyweight Championship Money in the Bank qualifying match4:26
4 Jim Duggan, Santino Marella, and Sgt. Slaughter defeated Camacho, Drew McIntyre, and Hunico [38] Six-man tag team match 7:25
5 Ryback defeated Curt Hawkins (with Tyler Reks) [39] Singles match 3:10
6 Zack Ryder won by last eliminating Kane [Note 2] [40] The Great American Bash 20-Man Battle Royal to determine the guest General Manager for the following week's SmackDown 10:48

Battle Royal

EliminationWrestlerEliminated byTime [41] Eliminations
1 Justin Gabriel Big Show0:160
2 Brodus Clay Big Show0:330
3 Ezekiel Jackson Tensai1:030
4 The Great Khali Del Rio, Swagger & Tensai1:380
5 Damien Sandow Zack Ryder1:580
6 Santino Marella Cody Rhodes2:150
7 Cody Rhodes Big Show2:461
8 Kofi Kingston Big Show2:570
9 Heath Slater Big Show5:33* 1 0
10 Jack Swagger John Cena5:55* 2 1
11 CM Punk Daniel Bryan6:161
12 Daniel Bryan CM Punk6:161
13 Alberto Del Rio John Cena8:101
14 Tensai John Cena8:392
15 John Cena Big Show8:443
16 Christian Big Show9:060
17 Dolph Ziggler Kane9:200
18 Big Show Kane9:207
19 Kane Zack Ryder10:482
Winner: Zack Ryder
Notes
  1. ^ ^ Slater and Swagger's eliminations occurred during a commercial break.

Notes

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<i>Clash of the Champions</i> World Championship Wrestling professional wrestling television program

Clash of the Champions is an American series of professional wrestling television specials that were produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP) in conjunction with the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). The specials were supercards comprising pay-per-view caliber matches, similar to the World Wrestling Federation's Saturday Night's Main Event series. The Clash of the Champions shows were famous for typically not airing commercials during matches even though many of these matches lasted 20 minutes or more.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Starrcade '85: The Gathering</span> 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions closed-circuit television event

Starrcade '85: The Gathering was the third annual Starrcade professional wrestling closed-circuit television event produced by Jim Crockett Promotions under the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) banner. It took place on November 28, 1985, from the Greensboro Coliseum Complex in Greensboro, North Carolina and Omni Coliseum in Atlanta, Georgia, with the event going back and forth from both arenas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Starrcade '87: Chi-Town Heat</span> 1987 Jim Crockett Promotions pay-per-view event

Starrcade '87: Chi-Town Heat was the fifth annual Starrcade professional wrestling supercard event produced by Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP) under the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) banner. It took place on November 26, 1987, from the UIC Pavilion in Chicago, Illinois. It was the first NWA event to be broadcast live on pay-per-view, and was also shown on closed circuit narrowcast at 100 different venues, as previous supercards had. This was the first major JCP event to feature wrestlers from the Universal Wrestling Federation, which was purchased by JCP shortly before the event.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Starrcade '88: True Gritt</span> 1988 World Championship Wrestling pay-per-view event

Starrcade '88: True Gritt was the sixth annual Starrcade professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced under the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) banner. It was the first Starrcade event produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and it took place on December 26, 1988, from the Norfolk Scope in Norfolk, Virginia. Shortly before the event, Ted Turner bought Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP), and the company became WCW.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bunkhouse Stampede (1988)</span> Jim Crockett Promotions pay-per-view event

The Bunkhouse Stampede Finals was the third Bunkhouse Stampede professional wrestling event produced by Jim Crockett Promotions under the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) banner. It was the only Bunkhouse Stampede event to air as a pay-per-view (PPV) event. The event took place on January 24, 1988 from the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, New York in direct competition with the WWF's Royal Rumble television special.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Great American Bash (1988)</span> Jim Crockett Promotions pay-per-view event

The 1988 Great American Bash was the fourth annual Great American Bash professional wrestling event produced by the National Wrestling Alliance's (NWA) Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP). It was the first Great American Bash event to air on pay-per-view (PPV), as the previous events aired on closed-circuit television. The event took place on July 10, 1988, at the Baltimore Arena in Baltimore, Maryland. This was the final NWA event produced by JCP and the third and final NWA event to be produced as a pay-per-view, as JCP was purchased by Turner Broadcasting System in November 1988 and was rebranded as World Championship Wrestling (WCW). This was also the first Pay Per View produced under the Turner Home Entertainment banner as the other two events were produced by The Wrestling Network.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Starrcade '84: The Million Dollar Challenge</span> 1984 Jim Crockett Promotions closed-circuit television event

Starrcade '84: The Million Dollar Challenge was the second annual Starrcade professional wrestling closed-circuit television event that was produced by Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP) under the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) banner. It took place on November 22, 1984, at the Greensboro Coliseum Complex in Greensboro, North Carolina. The main event of the show was billed as "the Million Dollar Challenge" as the storyline was that the winner of the match would not only win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship but also win a $1,000,000 purse, part of the illusion that professional wrestling was a legitimate sporting competition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Starrcade '86: Night of the Skywalkers</span> 1986 Jim Crockett Promotions closed-circuit television event

Starrcade '86: Night of the Skywalkers was the fourth annual Starrcade professional wrestling closed-circuit television event, produced by Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP) under the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) banner. It took place on November 27, 1986, from the Greensboro Coliseum Complex in Greensboro, North Carolina and Omni Coliseum in Atlanta, Georgia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crockett Cup (1986)</span> American professional wrestling tournament

The First Annual Jim Crockett Sr. Memorial Cup Tag Team Tournament, also referred to as Crockett Cup (1986), was held on April 19, 1986 at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. The first portion of the event was held in the afternoon and the second portion was held in the night. The event was co-promoted by Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP) and Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF). The tournament featured 24 tag teams. The concept of the Crockett Cup was a single elimination tag team tournament, with the storyline prize of $1,000,000.00 given to the winning team along with a large trophy. The tournament was won by The Road Warriors, as they defeated Ron Garvin and Magnum T. A. in the finals to win the tournament.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crockett Cup (1988)</span> American professional wrestling tournament

The Third Annual Jim Crockett Sr. Memorial Cup Tag Team Tournament, also referred to as the Crocket Cup (1988), was an event held over two nights: April 22 and 23, 1988. Scheduled to feature 24 teams, the tournament included a few changes to the original lineup and ended up with only 22 teams. The team of Sting and Lex Luger was formed specifically for the 1988 Crockett Cup and ended up winning the tournament by defeating Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard in the finals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">World championships in WWE</span> Listing of mens professional wrestling world championships

The American professional wrestling promotion WWE has maintained several men's world championships since Capitol Wrestling Corporation seceded from the National Wrestling Alliance in 1963 to become the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF), which was later subjected to various name changes, including World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)—in April 2011, the company ceased using its full name and has since just been referred to as WWE. The company's first world championship was the WWE Championship, which was established along with the promotion's creation in 1963 as the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship; it is still active today and is WWE's oldest active title. Whenever the WWE brand extension has been implemented, separate world championships have been created or allocated for each brand.

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